


The Devil and I

by AntaresNull



Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games), Monster Hunter World
Genre: Blood and Gore, Coping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Iceborne Spoilers, Lesbian Character, Main story spoilers, Permanent Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, f/f - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:20:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22497502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntaresNull/pseuds/AntaresNull
Summary: Lux is a hunter of the Seventh Fleet, running from her past into an uncertain future, carving out a new life in the New World.  A new Elder Crossing looms on the horizon and with it comes nightmares that Lux wishes would remain buried.  But some hungers can not be contained and continue to consume all in its path; a path that Lux has firmly set herself upon.  And when no hope is left, is left no fear.Set ten years after the events of Iceborne.  Spoilers for MH:W main story and Iceborne story.
Relationships: OC Hunter x OC Handler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	The Devil and I

_"There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them."_

_-_ Andre Gide -

_"In time, we hate that which we often fear."_

\- William Shakespeare -

" _Kell!_ "

The cobblestones were slick beneath Lux's feet with rain and blood. She skid around the corner of a burning home; the fire roaring higher as the roof collapsed in, sending a bloom of sparks into the dark sky. Her lungs ached with exertion, throat and sinuses scalded from huffing the smoke laced air. But still she ran; a full sprint that had her at an angle to the ground, legs pumping hard and arms throwing even more momentum into her speed.

Far behind, she could hear the clamor of the evacuation party. Some of the more brave, or more fool-hardy, had given chase after her; their voices more of a suggestion than anything coherent. The monsters had rumbled out of the forest together, their approach masked by their dark green skin and with the aid of the torrential rain.

Lux stopped in the ruins of the market and hunched over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath and trying not to throw up. Fear didn't let her stop long. She straightened and took as deep a breath as she could.

" _ **Kell!**_ " she bellowed, hands cupped around her mouth. In the distance, one of the beasts roared back; her mind supplying the mocking, triumphant quality. She made to tear off again back the way she came, wondering if Kell had been caught out playing with her friends, when she glimpsed the impossible. Kell staggered into the market from the main road. Even at a distance, Lux could see how badly she was hurt. Her face was scarlet with blood, one arm cradled close to her chest, limping on one leg. Terror and joy warred within Lux at the sight of her little sister having already feared the worst. Nearly crying in relief, Lux didn't even get to take her first step when her reality became a nightmare.

The monster loomed up behind Kell, a hulking black silhouette against the burning village; crimson eyes burning in a rage and hunger that made fire look tame. Those eyes fixed on Kell and it reared back, massive jaws ratcheting open to reveal rows upon rows of fangs glistening with saliva. In her daze, Kell finally glimpsed her big sister and stretched one hand toward her before all-consuming death descended upon her.

In one breath, Kell was there. Hurt, scared and in danger; but there. And in the next there was only empty air, one lonely sandal left behind as the beast gnashed its many teeth on a morsel hardly big enough to matter.

Lux was already running; her mind retreated to some dark little corner so that it could weep and scream as her body's survival instincts set her to flight. She was blind to everything around her as her mind fixated on her last split-second glimpse of her sister. Lux shrieked and thrashed in the ruined bale of hay she found herself in on the edge of the village. Her brain finally caught up with her body and she vomited and wept herself into unconsciousness.

The rain still poured. The fires still burned.

The monsters roared in glee as their teeth found more victims.

O ~ o ~ O

FIVE YEARS LATER

Lux rocketed up out of her bedroll with a cry, drenched in cold sweat, her chest heaving.

 _Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream_ she told herself over and over as she drew her knees to her chest and hid her face in her folded arms. Reality reasserted itself slowly but the memory of blood and rain and smoke kept her shivering anyway. The dull canvas walls of the tent were just beginning to glow with the rising wasteland sun; the ground still cool with the retreating night. There was a light scratching at the tent flap as she dried her tears on her arm and a hesitant, "Meowster?" reached her.

Oori poked his head through the flap, his big amber eyes worried. "Are you okay, Meowster?" He stepped into the tent, a tiny frying pan in one paw with yet to be cooked sausages sitting in it. Lux sniffed and ground her palms into her eyes.

"I'm- I'm fine, Oori," she managed with a shuddering sigh. She felt a paw rest on her shoulder.

"You were crying in your sleep," he didn't need to say " _again._ "

Lux felt her heart sink. It was one thing for her to continue bearing her inner torments, but something else entirely to make someone else do it. Especially as sweet a Felyne as Oori. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't disturb you," she muttered, keeping her eyes on the ground. The paw changed shoulders as Oori gave her a one-armed hug, resting his furry little head on her shoulder.

"I had intended to be up early anyway. Get a good breakfast before we head home," he said trying to bring a lighter subject to Lux's troubled mind, giving his frying pan a helpful wiggle in demonstration. Lux put her arm around his back and pressed her cheek to the top of his head, eyes closed, brow knit; sorry that she had worried her friend.

"It's a good idea," she said pulling away and giving him a half-hearted smile. "Go on, I'll be there in a minute." Oori nodded and tried to smile back, but it did nothing to erase the concern in his features.

They parted ways outside the tent as Lux made for a small nearby pond. She knelt and considered her reflection. Even in such a poor mirror, she could see the red veins standing out in her blue eyes ringed by sleepless shadows. She tried to smooth down her black pixie cut, but it insisted on standing at odd angles anyway. With a scooped handful of water, she cleaned the tear tracks off of her face, letting the coolness wash away the last traces of the nightmare.

At the fire, Oori tended their breakfast. If there was any time where he was truly happy, it seemed to be when he had food and a fire in front of him. He hummed and purred to himself as he tended their breakfast. The mosswine sausages crackled merrily in their own fat, giving off a nice herbal and earthy aroma. A couple rounds of bread were set on the stones surrounding the fire to toast. A small kettle on the other side held Oori's specially formulated tea of Greenwarish herbs, nullberry, and ginger that pulled toxins out of the system and provided a spicy wake up call. A little ways off, Slobber gnashed on a bone from last night, finally cracking it open to get at the marrow; if Lux hadn't known better, she would have thought their pack Jagras was grinning at his triumph.

They tucked into their meal in a shared silence. Every now and then Lux would catch him darting a glance in her direction, clearly still worried.

"Meowster?" he spoke up as they cleaned up camp and made to set out. Lux looked up from securing the last of their load to Slobber's back. She wore her comfortable, beaten-soft travel leathers; her hard-earned Rath scale armor packed away with a few choice bits of carved monster from their week-long hunt. Oori busied himself with his own pack as he spoke, clearly embarrassed to be touching on such a sensitive subject. "It meowby not be my place to say but, you know there is a fully staffed team of meowdics in Astera now and some of them are for helping the- the mind," he trailed off abashedly.

Lux felt her heart pang sadly. She, of course, wouldn't seek out the councilors from the Sixth Fleet's Medic Corps. but telling Oori no flat-out was out of the question. She didn't understand the point of reliving her torments in her waking life when revisiting them in her sleep was more than enough. She knelt next to her Palico who was still studiously focusing on his pack, tightening and rechecking straps that didn't need it. He finally looked up when Lux gently gripped his shoulder and said as gently as she could, "I'll think about it, okay?" Oori's whiskers drooped, but he nodded anyway. Lux sighed heavily and pat him gently on the back. "Let's just get home first, alright?" Another nod, looking away once more.

She wanted to cry. She could feel it prickling in her gut, the ache in her head, yet her eyes remained dry and she knew that if she could feel it then Oori would be able to see the vacancy in her eyes. She stood and turned back to Slobber, untying his lead after slinging her massive charge blade and shield onto her back. Another sigh. "Ready to go?" she asked with as much forced enthusiasm as she could. Oori meowed affirmatively, but plaintively.

They left the small hollow that held the camp site and made the final trek back to Astera in silence.

O ~ o ~ O

_15 Urzen, 2133_

_Dear mom and dad,_

_Life goes on here in the New World. You wouldn't believe how much bigger this place is than we had imagined all those years ago. We had heard stories about the Third Fleet airships but they pale in comparison to seeing them. That and the new railway that runs nearly half the length of this place. The Research Commission reckons that the New World is still growing and will only get bigger as the next Elder Crossing gets into full swing. They even expect Elders not seen in ages to reappear._

_I sit here writing with a sizable portion of Rathian scales and spines and wing leather next to me. The hunt was exhilarating. The scales are beautiful despite their rough feel and appearance. The smithy has told me that there's enough there so that they can forge armor out of the pieces. I can't wait to see it._

_I miss you every day. Kell too._

_I WILL put to rest the beast that did it. Even if it costs me what little I have left._

_Yours forever,_

_Love,_

_Lux_

**Author's Note:**

> Not a terribly long chapter, but it's still getting it's feet up under it.
> 
> I have no concrete plans for how long this is going to be, but at a rough estimate I'm thinking maybe in the neighborhood of ten chapters or so.
> 
> To note, no, the herbs in Monster Hunter are not actually called Greenwarish. But I like to think that the MH universe is connected to the Dragons Dogma universe. I mean, if you've played both then you know just how much Safi'jiiva looks like freakin' Grigori even if their power scales are a bit off.
> 
> As far as the date in Lux's letter is concerned, it's purely spit-balling on my part. We know there was an ancient civilization prior to the games timeline and an age where Elder Dragons ruled even before that. With a bit of guess work on my part, I'd comfortably put MHW at roughly 2000 years since the appearance of the ancient civilization.
> 
> As a small preview, in the next chapter, we'll get to meet Ruu, Lux's Handler, who definitely isn't harboring a bit of a crush on her Hunter. We'll also get to see how Astera has expanded in the mean time as well as where we're going next. New biomes, ahoy!


End file.
